CAKED in mud as he digs trenches and lays explosives intended to thwart the Taleban, he may not look like a man who has a lot of money. But Sergeant Neil Coates, a Briton serving with the Canadian army in Afghanistan, has just won half a million dollars on the Ontario lottery.

âIâm the richest sergeant in Afghanistan,â he told The Times yesterday.

Instead of celebrating his win, worth about Â£300,000, with a bottle of bubbly, a stretch limo and a luxury Caribbean holiday, Sergeant Coates, who emigrated from Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham, 16 years ago, finds himself marooned in Afghanistan and under fire. He has not showered for a week.

Fellow soldiers in Two Combat Engineers of the Canadian Army have made it their mission to ensure that Sergeant Coates, 44, survives his six-month tour of duty unscathed, if only so that he can buy them a round of drinks when they return home to Canada. One has drawn dollar signs on his helmet.

Warrant Officer Roger Perreau, 36, said: âWe are trying to keep him safe so he can enjoy his money. Iâm impressed he is keeping on with the mission when he has all this money.â

Sergeant Coates left the Royal Engineers and England in 1990 for a new life in Canada, settling in Petawawa, Ontario. He served with the British Army in the Falkland Islands in 1982 and after emigrating he joined Canadaâs equivalent of the Territorial Army before returning to a full-time post in the military.